Finding My Way
by zen.silver
Summary: Four years after the War, two Amitys, Peeta and Katniss, transfer to Dauntless. They find out about things they never knew happened, and they witness as the world they knew falls apart in strange ways. People are coming back to life, there is a new mysterious power lurking outside the fence, and Chicago is once again in danger. Please R&R! Rated T for minor themes and cussing.
1. Chapter 1

So.

This is what it's like to be sixteen, to officially-but-not-officially be an adult. Well, what I mean is, we're not officially adults and independent citizens until after the Choosing Ceremony and faction initiation, but generally this is the year it all happens.

My birthday was yesterday. And the aptitude test is tomorrow. I only have one official day of family bonding before I leave them. This whole thing, it sickens me.

I'm lying on my bed, staring at the yellow roof. My room is painted in yellow and orange, my favorite colors; which my mom and dad appreciate since yellow is the official Amity color.

I sit up in bed and stare at my hands, rough from baking I do day in, day out. I would be down at the bakery right now if my mother hadn't decided to give me the day off because I looked sick. To be honest, I feel sick. Sick of this whole faction system thing. Although this is something I can never tell anyone, because I am the only one who feels this way.

Everyone has spent their whole lives looking forward to this choice, the choice that molds the rest of their lives. I feel like maybe there is something wrong with me. Either that or there is something wrong with the rest of my faction.

I think I like the latter.

I smirk and shake my head. I could never be Abnegation, with that attitude. And I could never be Candor, the way I keep my opinions from the people in my world. But I know for sure that I could never rejoin Amity. It just isn't in me. Singing, laughing, it never did come easily to me.

And I never did learn to strum a banjo right.

I grin to myself for a second, then swing my legs over the bed and slip on my sneakers, then walking out.

-••—••-••—••-••—••-

I stop at the bakery, just to see if everything is functioning. For some reason, everything seems to go wrong without me. It's all in order, for the moment, so I go over to the basement door, just hungry for some company.

I walk down and see my older brother Parker (older by about eleven months) sitting at the table, reading a book. His glasses keep slipping off his nose and he pushes them back. I smile. "Hey, Parker."

He looks up. "Hi Peeta." He puts his book down and fidgets, tapping his fingers on the table. "What's wrong?"

"Does something have to be wrong for me to talk to my favorite brother?"

He looks at me over the top of his glasses. "Yes."

I grin. "Fair enough." Pulling out a chair, I take a seat. "So, I was wondering... How would Mom and Dad take it if I... Transferred? I mean, when Percy transferred to Candor, what were their reactions?" Percy is my oldest brother. Or at least, was. Faction before blood, right?

He looks down, suddenly interested in his hands. "I think they'll be fine. I mean, it's not like we've died, right? And it's our call! Our life. They can't tell us what to do."

I look at him. "What faction?" I say simply. I can tell why the question agitated him. He looks at me.

"Erudite," he says, looking down at his book.

And it clicks in my head. Of course. The constant reading, the constant interest in everything around him. He was made for Erudite.

"You?" he asks softly. I look away.

"I don't know. Just... Anywhere but here."

He nods. My brother understands. I knew he would.

"We can do whatever we want, Peeta. From now on our life is our own responsibility. We make the decisions." He stands up, walks over to me, and hugs me, slapping me on the back in an entirely non-Parker move.

I hug him back. "Our call."

He breaks away and picks up his book, grabbing his coat. "I'm going home. Want a lift?" Oh, yeah. My brother gets to drive the family truck around. He got his license two months ago.

I shake my head. "Nah. Got some things to work through. Go ahead."

I walk him upstairs, shoving my hands into my pockets. "Thanks, bro." I say.

"No problem, Peeta." Parker grins at me, tousling my hair so it sticks up in all angles like some electrocuted wheat crop.

I wait until I can see his truck in the distance, then set off in the opposite direction. I just need to think about my life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hullo. Sorry about not leaving an AN before. So basically, this story takes place four years after Tris' death, with most of the same characters. The only people from HG are Peeta, Katniss, Prim, and their basic families.**

I wake up to thumping on my door. It's Mom. "Wake up! Long day, sweetie, you have to be at the Aptitude Center in half an hour!"

I groan and roll over, nearly dropping off the bed. "Uh... Yeah, I'm up." I comb my hair into a somewhat passable form of existence, slip on whatever I can find lying around that looks remotely clean (which is quite a feat), and walk down to breakfast.

Parker and Dad sit quietly side by side, both with slightly puffy eyes, as if they'd been crying. I sit down across the table and look at them curiously. "Hey Dad, Parker."

Parker doesn't say anything, just continues eating his breakfast. Dad, however, looks up at me and gives me a watery smile. "Good morning, Peeta." A sip of coffee. "Parker and I were just discussing something." Another sip.

"And what would that be?" I poured myself some cornflakes and cut a banana in a bowl, pouring milk over the two.

"Peeta, son, I want you to know that whatever you choose tomorrow, I will stand by it. You deserve to have a choice in life. I'm an old man now, and... I just want you to know that you boys make me happy."

I feel tears stinging my eyes. I must not cry. I must not. I swallow them.

"I understand that, Dad. It's just about the best gift you could give me. Thank you."

"I love you boys."

Mom walks in at that moment. She smiles, at each of us in turn. "My sweet, sweet boys, good luck for your aptitude tests." She comes to me and gives me a hug, which I gladly return. When I break away, she looks tearful, so I squeeze her hand.

I realize that our parents must know that we're leaving. I feel a strange pain in my chest.

I clear my throat. "Uh, Parker, aren't we supposed to be at the Center in ten minutes?"

He looks at his watch and nods. "Yeah, let's get going. He grabs a muffin and we head out, but not after I hug my Mom once more. She really does look like she's about to cry. As I pull away, she says, "Look at my children, all grown up."

I smile. "I love you, Mom."

She purses her lips and runs into the house.

I sigh, and look at Parker. "C'mon, bro."

We climb into the car and set off.

-••—••-••—••-

I fidget in place. "I'm so glad M isn't too far down the alphabet line." I whisper to Parker. He nods, his knee bouncing like crazy.

We're at the end of L already. Three names before Parker. He looks at me. "I'll be with Rose, alright? Over there." He points at a table, where his girlfriend sits. She's a smart-aleck like him. They're probably going to join Erudite together and ride off into the sunset or something.

"Okay." I close my eyes and lean back in the chair, only looking up when my brother's name is called.

"Parker MELLARK, please report to room 1A." I wonder why they do that, boom the last name out so loud. Anyway.

I see him peck Rose in the lips and walk over to the room they specified. I give him a thumbs up and mouth, "Good luck."

"You too," he mouths back.

Those who have taken the test are taken into another Waiting Room until the end of their Faction Testing, when they are all released.

I feel a nervous bubble rise in my throat, so I look down at my hands and concentrate on flexing the open and shut. I realize they are shaking.

I'm scared. It dawns on me that I'm scared of the result I may get. I don't know what I'd do if I got Amity. Probably ignore the results and choose something else. But what? I'm so unremarkable. What could I possibly get other than Amity?

"Peeta MELLARK, please report to room 3F."

I stand up, wipe my palms on my trousers, and walk over to the door of the room. I knock, remembering how it is always polite to do so.

Inside is a stark reclining chair with some weird attachment on the headpiece, and a small table. One wall of the room is devoted to a mirror. A man stands by the table, looking at me. He's dark-skinned, with deep dimples at even a hint of a smile. He can't be older than 22, but I can tell that he's been through a lot of not-so-nice things by the way he looks at me. He's wearing black. Dauntless.

"My name is Zeke," he says quietly. "I'll be administering your aptitude test. C'mon over here." He sits me down on the chair and picks up a syringe filled with cloudy liquid. "Arm or neck?" He asks.

I look at him blankly. "What?"

He rolls his eyes. "Do you want the serum injected into your arm or your neck, idiot?" He flashes me a smile, but then it's gone.

"Uh... Doesn't make a whole lot of difference, does it?" I say.

He nods. "Right. Well, this serum will put you in hallucination mode. You'll be offered a series of dilemmas, and your answers will determine your result. It takes five seconds for the serum to activate." He holds up my arm and slaps it a couple of times so the vein stands at attention. "Ready?"

I nod. He presses and injects. I close my eyes.

One, two, three, four... And everything turns white.

I open my eyes. I'm standing in the same room as before, but there's no one else here. Zeke is gone. I look back and see that the chair is gone, replaced by a low table with a gun and a loaf of bread on it.

A deep voice behind me bellows, "Choose."

I hesitate, and reach for the bread. But then I stop. Because isn't that what I'm trying to escape? The bread. Amity. Kindness. But the gun. Whatever it entails means I'll have to kill.

No.

"No."

"Choose!"

"Why should I?"

"CHOOSE."

"I'm not going to. I can't fail this test, plus, it's a fricking simulation. It's not real." I cross my arms.

The world dissolves.

I hear a gunshot, and screaming.

I'm in a dark alley, and all around me I can see rubbish. The sounds are coming from around the corner. I peek around it, to see what's going on. I see a factionless man holding a gun, pointing it at a rich lady. Behind her lies a man, slumped, his clothes darkened with blood. I close my eyes, but then open them again to survey the situation.

"Give me your stuff or you're dead, lady." Behind him stands a thin, emaciated child, who he seems to be protecting.

Of course. Bread or gun. I was stupid. I should have chosen one. With the gun I could have shot the man and the kid, or the bread I could have given to them. They would've backed off.

I need to think of something. I look around, trying to see something that could set off an idea. All I see is garbage. There's nothing.

The lady is gonna die because of me.

I suddenly jump up and slap myself. "This isn't real," I tell myself. "Save the woman."

I see the man poised to shoot.

I run.

I yell, and slap the gun out of the man's hand, but not before he pulls the trigger. I see it go off in my leg but I feel no pain.

The scene dissolves again.

I sit in a dark room at a table, my hands cuffed in front of me.

On the table lies a picture of my father.

I see a man at the other side of the room. "Listen, kid. You tell me if you know this guy, you go free. He dies, but you go free. Now tell me. And don't lie. I'll know if you lie." His shades flash, and I can tell he's Candor. "You lie, you die."

But if I tell you about my father, he dies, I think.

"No," I say slowly. "I don't know who this is."

The man takes off his shades. "You sure about that, kid?" He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a gun. "You sure?"

I feel the hair on my neck stand, and I frown. "Sure I'm sure, Candor."

He comes over to me. "Well, then." I feel the cold circle of a gun on my head, and hear a bang and then it's over.

I open my eyes to see Zeke standing over me. "Get up." He says quietly.

I stand. "What was my result?"

He doesn't move.

"Well?" I say loudly.

He grabs my arm. "Shut the hell up, kid." He runs a hand over his face. "Your results were inconclusive."

I look at him. "Uh, what's that supposed to mean?"

He looks me in the eye.

"Erudite," he says. "Dauntless." He shakes his head. "Abnegation."

I gape at him. "Wait, what? THREE results?"

He nods. "Listen, kid. You're special. You're not supposed to be this way. If anyone finds out what you are, you could be killed." He pinches the bridge of his nose.

"There's only one other person who has ever had these three results." He says slowly. "She's dead now."

I clench my jaw. "So you're telling me that I'm different and might as well be dead?"

He shakes his head wildly. "No! No. I'm not saying that. Listen... Your test was the strangest test I've ever seen. People like you are called Divergent. You can't tell anyone about this." He grips my arm. "You hear me? No one!"

I wrench my arm away from him. "I get it! Can I go now?"

He looks at me, sadness in his eyes. "I'm going to send you home early," he says. "Because you got sick. The serum made you throw up and you had to go home. Got it?"

I nod. "Wait. What exactly... Is a Divergent?"

He shakes his head. "I can tell you this much. Do NOT join Erudite. Under any circumstances. They will kill you. Abnegation would be good for you, but I have a feeling it's not really for you. Dauntless would be the best. We'll train you how to fight. If you do join Dauntless... I will find you, and I will tell you what you are."

I nod, and stumble out of the room in a daze.


	3. Chapter 3

**So I'm hoping those of you who are reading this story like it. I introduce Katniss in this chapter, not in person but indirectly. By the way, I have great plans for the rest of this story. If anyone can guess, review. ;) ~Z**

I hear the bell at the counter ring, which means I have a customer. I wipe my hands on a wet paper towel and walk out of the oven room.

I see a small twelve year old girl and smile. "Hello, Primrose."

She smiles at me, a little sadly. "Hi Peeta. What are you doing here? I thought you don't have to work the night before Choosing."

I shrug. "I just felt like it. I needed to get my hands moving to distract myself." I pour myself some lemonade. "You want some, Prim?"

"Sure." She takes a seat at the other side of the counter and sips at the glass I pour for her.

I can sense there's something up. She looks upset. "What's wrong?" I ask, concerned. I am really pretty attached to this girl... Plus. I have a crush on her sister. ...I'll come to that later.

She sighs. "Katniss is leaving." Katniss is said sister, and she is also choosing tomorrow.

I frown. "Is that so?"

"Well, yeah. I haven't asked her, but the way she talks to me, like saying goodbye, I know she's going."

I nod. "Well... If it makes you feel any better, another four years and you can join her wherever she is. Remember, it's your life."

She sighs. I don't think that advice helped. Prim was made for Amity. "I guess."

"Yeah, well."

We sit in awkward silence for a while. Then she slurps up the last of her drink, sighs again, and stands up. "I better go. Thanks for the lemonade, Peeta." She gives me a small smile and walks away.

I sit there for a while, thinking, what if Katniss and I end up in the same faction? A smile creeps up on my face as I think of her.

But then I wipe the thought away because I have no idea what she will choose. It might be Erudite, because she's smart. Very smart. Or it might be Abnegation, because she's so selfless and willing to sacrifice anything for her family. Or it might be Dauntless.

I'm pretty sure I'm choosing Dauntless. Zeke said it would be safest for me there. Zeke is there, himself. I need his information.

I wnder if I'm good enough for Dauntless, though. I'm strong. Pretty strong. And the test said I am part Dauntless. So I can do it. I know so.

-•-•—•-•-–•_•–-•-•—•-•-

At dinner tonight, we are all silent. But it isn't an awkward silence. I feel a sort of togetherness, a last act of bonding with my parents before I leave them forever.

I am so grateful that they didn't ask what faction I am going to join. I thought they would, even though it's technically against the law.

My father suddenly pipes up. "Weren't you home early, Peeta? Is that allowed?"

Parker looks at me and nods. "Yeah, I was waiting for you and you never came to the waiting room. Rose told me that she saw you walk out, so I assumed you'd gone home. I guess she was right, then."

I cleared my throat. "Uh, yeah. I felt sick. I mean- the serum for the test. It made me feel really sick. I puked on the guy who was giving my test." I force a laugh, my voice strained. I can't tell them what happened. I can't.

My parents, being Amity through and through, buy it. They laugh, picturing my imaginary pukefest.

When we are done, Parker starts collecting the dishes. "C'mon, Peeta. Let's go wash up, eh?" I pick up my plate and follow him into the kitchen, knowing he was going to ask something I can't reply to.

I start washing, and he stands by me with a cloth to dry the dishes with.

"So, brother," he says casually. "What was your result?"

Shit. I think of what to reply with.

"What was your result, Parker?" I say, trying to steer the conversation to him again. He frowns through his glasses at me.

"Erudite. So now you tell me."

I rinse off the last dish and turn the tap off. I look at him. "Dauntless," I say.

He nods. "Alright."

I turn to leave. He grabs my arm. I turn to him, incredulous. "What?"

"Did the serum really make you sick, Peeta?" he asks.

"It did. Can you prove that it didn't?" I ask, knowing a smart guy like him would find this question irritating.

He shakes his head and presses his lips into a thin line. "Fair enough."

I turn away and walk up to my room, turning the light off and throwing myself onto my bed, not bothering to undress or take off my shoes, even. The test has left me tired, and my head is fuzzy with fatigue.

I fall asleep almost immediately.


	4. Chapter 4

I am sitting in the back of the truck with Mom while Parker drives and Dad talks with him about something. It's probably something emotional, and, as I remind myself again and again, while Amity can do all that stuff, Dauntless probably abhor it.

I have to steel myself and try not to care. It's for my own good. I have to fit in.

But then I see Mom, staring out at the huge chain-link fence that surrounds the city. We just passed it.

I often wonder why it's there, and why we live outside it but the rest of the factions aren't allowed to step out unless on official business to Amity. I wonder what's beyond our faction grounds. It's strange I've never wondered this before.

Anyway. Back to the point. I see Mom, staring out the back of the truck, her eyes glistening with tears. I have to comfort her.

"Hey Mom," I say softly. "You're okay, right?"

She looks at me. "Yes," she says. "I'm fine. Are you? Do you know what you're going to choose?"

"I'm alright, Mom. Of course I am. And I know what I'm going to choose."

She looks at me expectantly for a second; she thinks I'm going to tell her. I turn away. It is my turn to stare. Out at the fence.

I still feel her eyes on me after a while, and it makes me feel all prickly and uncomfortable, so I look back at her. "You and Dad... You're going to be okay, right?"

She chuckles softly. "Of course. We had a life before you boys were born, you know."

For some reason or the other, this rubs me the wrong way. Does she mean that when we leave, my parents are going to forget we were ever born, and live life like we never happened?

I try to suppress the thought. I smile at her. "I'm glad to hear that."

And then I turn away because for some reason I can't stand to look at her right now.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:::::::::::-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-::::::::::-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

I sit next to Parker in the Amity section, arms folded across my chest as I try to look casual and not freaked out. Suddenly, all these new thoughts are coming into my head. What if it's best to stay in Amity, act like nothing ever changed? What if I'm not meant to be in Dauntless? What if Zeke was wrong, and I should join Erudite? I'll be with my brother; what could be unsafe about that?

And then I haven't even thought about Abnegation. Isn't that the safest option?

I feel all of this coming up in my throat, threatening to choke me. I try to clear my mind, and take a long breath. I am Dauntless; I am Dauntless. Breathe.

I realize my fists are clenched tight. Breathe. Unclench. Breathe. Unclench.

Alright.

Somewhere in my haze of emotions, I hear the name Katniss Everdeen being called.

I wake myself up, just as she is extracting herself from Prim's hug. She whispers something in the elder girl's ear, and I see her blink back tears.

She walks up to the center of the stage. A knife lies on a semicircular table, along with five bowls. Whichever one she drips blood into will determine her new faction.

I watch her as she punctures a small hole in her palm. Her hand hovers above the bowls of Dauntless and Amity, represented respectively by sizzling coals and soil.

I find myself rooting for Dauntless in my head.

Her hand hovers.

Her blood is about to drip.

About to.

It drips.

And falls onto the coals.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, and clap along with the rest of Amity as Dauntless lets out loud whoops of joy. I register someone say, "Katniss Everdeen, Dauntless."

I occupy myself by shutting out all the noise coming from everywhere and counting how many people in the crowd have blond hair like myself.

The person next to me nudges me just as Parker's name is called. I stand up for him to pass by and squeeze his arm as he goes by me. "Do good, bro," I whisper.

He mouths, "You too." He smiles at me and I do the same, sitting back down.

He is confident; he strolls down there, punctures his hand, and squeezes the blood out of it into the bowl of water: Erudite.

I clap and let out a short wolf-whistle as the man says, "Parker Mellark, Erudite."

I only hope I have the courage to be as confident about the decision as Parker has been.

My name is called. I move as if in a dream. I pass my mom, who squeezes my hand. "Be brave," she hisses.

What? Is that supposed to be some kind of cryptic message? Brave. Dauntless. What is my mother trying to say?

I get jolted back to reality and stumble onto the stage. I pick up the knife and press the blade into my palm, wincing as it breaks through my skin. Blood begins to well out slowly. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and hold my hand over the bowl on the far right.

There's a hiss as my blood evaporates on the coals.

I have been brave. I am Dauntless.

I hear the crowd cheer for me, for my choice.

I keep standing there, unmoving, for about thirty seconds. A man in black has to come and remove me from the stage. He directs me to the Dauntless section. I take a seat, which, to my pleasure, is right next to Katniss'. She looks at me, surprised.

"Peeta?"

I frown. "Yeah. That's my name."

She snorts. "I know. You in Dauntless is just hard to picture."

I try to think of something that I can say to her that may be hurtful but when I look at her again, I just can't. When she looks away, she chews on the end of her braid and I can see a certain familiar sort of worry in her eyes that emulates what I saw in mine last night. She is unsure. Scared.

Could she be Divergent? Is that even possible? I don't know.

That's why I joined Dauntless. I needed to know the truth. It's a bit impulsive, I know, to make a life decision based on curiosity, but I just know I can be Dauntless.

Even if it's just to prove the fact to Katniss.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:::::::::::-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-::::::::::-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Choosing is nearly over. I watch the last few seal their fates, including Parker's girlfriend, who chooses... Abnegation. Poor Parker. Must feel so betrayed. I wonder what drove her to choose Abnegation. She is the second of two transfers to Abnegation. What fun, huh?

Maybe she was Divergent.

Okay, maybe I need to stop coming to this conclusion. But it's possible.

I am so wrapped in my thoughts I do not notice that the Dauntless have begun standing and moving towards the exit. Choosing is over. I stand and basically just get swept ahead in a wave of black.

There are so many more Dauntless than Amity, it strikes me. It's the biggest faction. Why?

I don't know. I should really make a list of all my questions so I can ask Zeke.

We are outside now, and the Dauntless have broken off into groups. I jog next to Katniss, who doesn't seem to notice me.

"Where," I say between breaths, "are we going?"

Katniss scowls at me. "Don't you know anything? The Dauntless travel by train. We're getting on the train."

I bite my lip. Oh yeah. The train. The scary train which they jump off of while it runs at sixty miles per hour.

Yay.

We are directly under the tracks now. All around me, Dauntless-born are climbing up to the top of the track. I follow suit, shortly discovering that I have a knack for climbing, even though I'm not too light or anything. Katniss, however, is struggling. I reach down and give her a hand, pulling her up. She smiles at me for a second before converting it into a scowl. I think she's just trying not to let Amity show through.

I hear an older guy yell something over the wind, which whips over my ears ferociously. I can't hear anything.

"What did he say?" I yell at the people standing around me.

"The train is coming!" A boy yells back. Must be Erudite, since he wears a blue button-down and a waistcoat.

And sure enough, it is. You can see it, a black splodge growing larger by the second.

"ALRIGHT, TRANSERS! GRAB ONTO THE TRAIN HANDLE AND HOP IN." I heard him well this time.

The first cars are passing by me now. I rub my hands together, doing a quick assessment.

"I think we should run with it!" I shout to the Erudite kid behind me and to Katniss in front of me. They nod. I begin gaining speed, and soon I've grabbed onto a handle. I flail and kick trying to push my body into the car.

Finally, I'm in. I breathe a sigh of relief and look at my hands. They're welted by grabbing onto the sweltering metal. I tuck them under my armpits and lean against the wall near the door. The Erudite boy swings in a few minutes later, breathing ragged but grinning as if that was the best thing that'd ever happened to him.

He comes over to me and sits down, blowing on his red hands. "Hi properly. I'm Jayden. I would offer to shake your hand in proper Dauntless custom, but uh. They hurt currently."

I grin and nod. "I'm Peeta. Nice to meet you, Jayden."

He grins. "Likewise, Peeta." Already, I can see other people bonding, forming groups among themselves as Jayden and I have just done. I wonder where Katniss is.

Alarm rushes through me. I jog over to the door of the train car, peeking my head out and trying to avoid it being whipped backwards ferociously by the wind.

She is running slightly behind the handle, but not so far as to impossible for me to reach.

"Katniss!" I yell. Her eyes find me. She is scared. If she cannot board this train she will be factionless. "Grab my hand, okay?"

I maneuver myself in a way that I can hold onto the handle with my left hand and reach out to her with my right.

She reaches out, unable to reach more than the tips of my fingers. I stretch out further, hearing cloth rip somewhere behind me... Probably my pant leg against the train's moving parts.

"C'mon, Katniss, a little faster!" I plead, because I am beginning to lose grip. I hear people behind me, who are probably watching this somewhat interesting form of entertainment.

She stops. I don't know why, but she does. She takes a breath. I feel my hope dissipate. I'm going back into the train car, when I see her running again. She was giving herself a boost!

She manages to grab my hand, and with what little upper arm strength I have left, I swing her into the car.

She pulls me in, and to my surprise, people start cheering.

Some random guy with bright purple hair comes over to me. "What's your name, kid?"

I flip over on the floor, and with some evident difficulty, breathe out, "Pe...Peeta."

"THREE CHEERS FOR PEETA!" They all break out into clapping and whooping.

Woah. That was unexpected. I guess people don't pull stuff like that often?

Dauntless seem pretty excitable.

Katniss comes over to where I am half-slumped on the floor of the train car, and she helps me sit up. "You okay?" Concern for me fills her face where before there was only scorn.

I guess saving a person's life can make that happen. I nod. "Yeah." She purses her lips and walks over to the window in the corner of the car.

I see Jayden come over. "That was cool, Peeta. Is she your girlfriend or something?"

I smile. "I wish. No, she isn't."

Jayden nods. "Ahhhhhh. Okay. I see." He grins.

"Of course you do."

I hear a voice over from a speaker in the corner. "Five minutes to Dauntless HQ! Get ready to JUMP!"

I groan. "Noooo... Again?"

Jayden pulls me to my feet. "I've seen them do this, plenty of times at school. You just adjust the trajectory and angle of your jump, mentally, and to ensure there are less following consequences-"

"Um. Earth to Jayden. I'm not Erudite."

He slaps his forehead comically. "Ugh, sorry. What I mean to say is that you should make sure you're jumping at he right time and in the right direction, and if it's your first time you should probably roll. Don't try to execute a stand-up-and-run."

I nod.

"ONE MINUTE, INITIATES!" I hear speaker-guy yell.

Okay. I can do this. I can do this. I can jump out of a moving train onto the roof of a building. Sure.

I see Jayden counting. Finally, he nods. "On three."

On my right, I look to Katniss, three people up the line, and nod.

"One, two... JUMP!" Jayden shrieks, and I feel the car fly away from under me. I feel like I'm floating for about a milli-second, before my shoulder hits the Tarmac, hard. Pain shoots through it.

I roll to a stop and just lie there, tears squeezing out of my eyes. I wait for Jayden to come over. "Jayden, can you, uh... Look at my shoulder? It hurts like hell for some reason."

He inspects it for a second. "Basically the Tarmac tore through your shirt and there's a bit of a gash. But it's okay. It'll be fine. No chance of infection here, it's really narrow and shallow and all."

He fishes in his pocket and hands me a bottle of tiny pills. There are hundreds in it. "Here," he says, taking two out for me. "Erudite painkillers. Pop these two in your mouth and you're good to go."

I smile at him gratefully. "Thanks." I prop myself up on the other elbow and gulp down the pills, then struggling to my feet as I watch initiates rain from the doors of the train car.

Katniss hits the roof running, and I feel a surge of pride. Why, I don't know. She comes over and when she sees my clutching my arm wound, she frowns. "What happened?"

I point at the ground. She nods and says nothing. I feel the pain leave my arm, and I heave a sigh of relief.

The final initiate has jumped, and now I see the leaders jumping.

They either hit the ground with a somersault or something equally cool, or just stopping directly, without taking any steps forward. I find I'm riveted to them.

"Pretty cool, aren't they?" Jayden says quietly, staring.

He read my mind or something.

"Yeah. I hope we can be like that someday."

A man covered from head to foot in black and red tattoos approaches the initiates. "My name is Rex. I am the Dauntless leader that you will most likely be communicating with most." He scans the crowd, his sharp gray eyes resting on everyone in turn. I feel bile in my throat as he stares at me, his eyes lingering. I wonder if he can tell what I'm thinking right now.

Hope not.

He puts his hand behind his back and paces past us.

"You are about to face your first challenge as a Dauntless." I stare at him like he's crazy. The train wasn't the first challenge? "While you go through initiation, you will be ranked and scored according to performance." He stops walking. "Only fifteen out of all of you will make it into Dauntless. Do I make myself clear? This is a competition."

I'm stunned. "So we could fail initiation? What then?" The words escape me before I can hold them back.

"Let's just say you can't go running back to mommy. You'll be factionless, boy." He sneers at me, his hair casting an eerie shadow over his tattooed face. "You chose us. Now it's our turn to choose you."

I nod, and look down at my feet.

"Follow me," Rex says. He walks away to the far side of the roof, and we all follow. He stops at the edge of the roof, and I peer over the edge. There is a gaping, seemingly bottomless hole here.

"We're supposed to... what? Throw ourselves down the bottomless pit?" Jayden asks.

Rex lifts his head, and I see a ghost of a smile. "Nicely put. Yes."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I can do this. I can.

Rex's voice cuts through my meditation. "Well, come on then. Last thing we need is a faction of chickens."

I feel myself step forward. "I'll jump." Instantly I feel like I want to slap myself.

Why not jump and get it over with, though? It's probably safe, and it couldn't hurt to earn myself some bravery points.

Rex raises his eyebrows at me, but says nothing.

"Go on then, banjo boy!" I hear someone laugh. And here I thought minutes ago these people liked the little train stunt I pulled. I sigh.

Closing my eyes, I struggle onto the ledge and stand on it, my arms slightly extended. I take a breath, and plummet head first.

For a moment, I feel like I am flying. It is amazing, and I feel a yell of exhilaration rip through me. I pass layers and layers of holes in floors before I feel a pit of dread in my stomach. Is something going to catch me?

I've twisted onto my back now, and my question is soon answered when I land on something coarse and hard and bounce back into the air.

A net. I've landed in a net. I laugh loudly, and wait till I have stopped bouncing to look down at what is below me. I am around five feet above the ground, in a room with blacklights and dirty walls. A man with wheatish skin and a hooked nose stands at the edge of the net, to help me down, I presume. I edge toward him, and the net tips. I nearly fall off.

"Careful, kid. Easy now." The man said. I ease myself down onto the floor and grin up at the roof.

"What's your name?" He asks.

"Peeta." I say, still shaking slightly over the jump.

"You sure?" He eyes me, and I get it. I have the chance to start over again here, be a new person. But I shake my head. "My name's Peeta."

"Okay. FIRST JUMPER, PEETA!" He yells, and I jump. I hear the words echoing from person to person for a long time, until I hear a loud cheer from far away.

I see another figure falling through the air. It's Katniss. I grin. She's yelling with laughter, and accidentally rolls off the net. I run to catch her, but the other man beats me to it. She gets down for his arms, holding onto his shoulder for a second with her eyes squeezed shut. He looks at her incredulously. Then she lets him go. "Sorry," she says, giggling a bit. "Uh... Dizzy." She walks away from him, bumping into me.

"Woah, Katniss, easy there." I say, smiling. I lead her to the wall and she leans against it. I sink down to the floor next to her and watch as people start pouring in, or rather, jumping in. The man lets them down one by one. Jayden is the fifth jumper, and when he gets down from the net his eyes are red-rimmed.

I grin at him. "You scared of heights or something?"

He nods, but doesn't say a thing.

When everyone is down, the net guy stands in front of us, surveying us.

"Get up," he says to those on the floor. He wears a black muscle shirt, which I find painfully impressive compared to the loose torso I've got. His arms are covered in tattoos.

We all stand, and then he paces, much like Rex did. "My name is Four."

"Uh, you mean, like, the number four?" Jayden pipes.

"Yeah." He says, his eyes piercing him through with dark blue rays. "Problem, Smartypants?"

The smaller boy shakes his head. "N-no sir."

"Good. As I was saying, my name is Four, and I will be your initiation instructor. Normally, I work in the control room, though." I think I see pain in his eyes, but then it's gone. "I fought the war, four years ago."

We all nod. I don't really remember that, even though I was twelve. It's funny; all my memories before thirteen are pretty vague.

"Alright. Transfers, with me. Rest of you stay put till the other instructor Christina comes gets you. Do I make myself very clear?" He says, quietly. Almost lethally, with venom in his voice.

I hear a mumbled chorus of "Yes."

"Alright, transfers follow me." He opens the door, and we file past it into the corridor beyond.


	5. Chapter 5

"This is the Pit. You'll be spending a lot of time here, so you better learn to love it."

I am truly in awe. The Pit is a huge cave of black stone that stretches a long, long distance, and the walls are peppered with thin lead-offs into the rest of the compound. It's teeming with what looks to me like more than five hundred people in black, and it's hard to push through. Echoes of laughter, yells,

Four points off to the right, a huge deep chasm from where I see spray hurtling hundreds of feet into the air. An unstable railing surrounds it, and I can hear the steady roar of water from here."That is the Chasm. River like a bullet train down there. Lots of people jump. Easy way to die," he says, looking a bit upset for a second. I wonder if someone he knew jumped into the river. But then, like any other time I've noticed his expression change, it's back to his instructor face.

"How many people have jumped down there?" Katniss asks, eyebrows raised. She's clearly impressed.

Four looks at her. "Not sure. Probably around twenty."

He falls silent, as do we. After a while, he says, "This is all underground, and-" He is interrupted.

"Yeah, well, I don't see any windows or hear any birds!" A plumpish Candor with jet black hair and strange purplish eyes blurts, laughing. A few others laugh along with him. I wince. It's a mistake, if anything.

Four whips around instantly like he's been shot. He grabs the Candor by the collar. "Didn't anybody teach you only to speak when you're spoken to, Candor?" He spits in his face, so dangerously quiet that we have to lean in to hear him. For the first time since meeting this guy, I start feeling truly scared.

Apparently, Jayden and Katniss share my feelings, as they're looking at him in the same way I probably am. Katniss brings the end of her braid into her mouth and chews on it. I didn't know she had a nervous tic like that. Mine is biting my tongue, but I don't do it an awful lot.

I turn my attention back to the Candor.

"N-no sir, I'm Candor, see... We're supposed to say wh-whatever comes in our heads..."

Four drops him down and he nearly crumples until some Abnegation guy comes and helps him lower lip wobbles and it looks like he's about to cry.

Four looks away, his lip curled in disgust or some other similar emotion. "What's your name, Candor?"

"Billy, sir." He says quietly, looking down as if to avoid eye contact with anyone.

"Well, Candor, you're Dauntless now," he says in his dangerous quiet tone. "The first lesson you're going to learn from me is to keep your filthy Candor mouth shut, understand? This goes for all you Candors." He spits at him, then swiping the group with his gaze. I hear some surrounding Dauntless begin to laugh.

Billy gulps and nods. "Yessir."

He starts walking away. "Follow me."

We push through the crowd until we get to the widest lead-off on this side of the Pit. Four leads us through a series of corridors, lit with dim blue electric lamps and made of dark stone, which I mark in my head since a) I have somewhat of a knack for memorizing maps and b) we will probably need to get back to the Pit at some point.

Four pushes open a door into a large room with twelve beds. There is a large chalkboard on the far wall, along with small mirrors and tables next to each bed. There is another door, which I presume leads into another dorm. There's a bit of a bloodstain in the center of the room, but it looks really old and faded. I stare at it warily, wondering whose blood that was.

"This is where you will sleep." Four says, standing by the door as we file into the room and look around.

"Boys or girls?" asks the Abnegation guy who helped Billy.

Four looks at him, cocking an eyebrow and smiling faintly. "Both, Stiff."

The Stiff blushes and turns away.

"So what's behind that door?" I ask, pointing.

"The showers," Four answers. I look at him for elaboration. "Those are together, too." He comments smoothly.

I hear a couple of laughs and wolf whistles rise from the group. An Erudite grabs his girlfriend and kisses her lightly, after which they both laugh.

Jayden grins beside me. "This just gets more interesting every second." I smirk at him and he claps my back.

"Ahem," I hear from the side. It's Katniss and she's trying to look angry, but I see amusement in her eyes. "You perverts better keep your eyes to yourselves at all times."

Jayden whistles, and I just laugh. Then Four yells, and the fun's generally over.

"There are clothes in the locker room area," he says, gesturing towards the showers. "Pick out whatever you want, and leave your faction clothes there. You won't ever be seeing them again, so I recommend you check your pockets twice. Change quickly, choose beds, and report back to the Pit in exactly fifteen minutes. Those who are not punctual are dead meat."

He glowers at us, and I pretty much believe what he said about the meat and its deadness. Then the door slams and he's gone.

•-–—–-••-–—–-••-–—–-•

I have to say, the Dauntless have good taste in clothes. We're all wearing badass black leather and things of that sort. I check my pockets and, finding nothing leave my clothes there. I secure a bed next to Jayden's and across from Katniss' and then walk out with them.

We have about seven minutes to spare, so we walk slow.

I look at Jayden and Katniss. "So, uh, Jay, did I ever tell you who this is?" I look at Katniss.

He grins. "Uh... Judging by the fact that I don't even know her name yet, I'd say... no."

"This is Katniss, and she's from Amity as well. Katniss, this is Jayden. He's from Erudite."

Katniss smiles. "Hi." She stares at him for just a second too long, and I feel a pang of jealousy.

I look at Jayden, properly this time, and see that he is, quite frankly, a hunk. He has dark blonde hair, almost brown, grown out so it nearly covers his eyes, which in turn are bright green and sparkly-ish, coupled with straight white teeth.

For some reason I don't like Jayden with the same intensity as I did a few moments ago. Oh, well.

"Why'd you transfer, Jayden?" I say, trying to break the awkwardness I feel.

"Oh. Well. Y'know, usual reasons. I wasn't really smart enough, and I didn't fit in," he says. "You?"

"Um, well... I just really couldn't fit in with Amity anymore. They're too happy-go-lucky for my taste. Plus, like my brother told me, whatever we want to do with our lives is our own choice, our own responsibility. So I chose Dauntless." I remember something Rex said. "Now Dauntless just has to choose me." I turn to Katniss. "What about you, Katniss?"

She stiffens. "I, uh..." her face pales. "...don't really want to talk about it," she finishes.

I smile at her, and I can tell Jayden does the same behind me. "It's okay."

"Yeah," Jayden adds. "No pressure, 'kay?"

I find that I've been unwittingly leading us to the Pit, and that according to my watch, fifteen minutes are almost up. "Uh, guys, I don't really want to be dead meat, so let's hurry, eh?"

We practically jog at full speed towards the Pit, and I see Four leaning against the wall. He looks at his watch and then at us. "Punctual." he comments, smiling slightly as he watches us huff and puff for breath.

I grin when my face is back to its original pallor. "Yeah, well. We're the first, aren't we?"

He nods. "You know, I think I may just leave the others to find their way to the mess hall themselves, since they did not feel the need to show up on time." He starts walking away, and then looks at us over his shoulder. "Well? Follow."

We trail behind him obediently, trying to avoid the stares of the Dauntless as they get used to the new additions. I want to forget about that, so I jog ahead to Four and leave Katniss and Jay to their small talk. By now I've figured that he has a soft side and a hard, tough Dauntless side, but his soft side is for some reason trying hard to shine through.

"So, uh, Four," I say slowly, trying out the name on my tongue for the first time. "What's initiation like... Exactly?"

"Well... Peeta, right? Well, Peeta, it's pretty tough. Initiation has three stages; the first is physical, and the second two are basically mental. First stage, the last two on the board get kicked. They're factionless. Second stage, transfers and Dauntless born train together, so it's last five out. At the end of your last stage, only the top ten will stay."

I ponder this for a moment. "Woah," I say finally. "Dauntless really helps the factionless numbers grow. That's like... Nearly twenty every year or something."

Four nods. "We nearly changed the system," he says, so softly that I nearly don't catch anything but the word 'changed'.

I look at him. "Excuse me?"

"Nothing. We're at the mess hall." I see two massive double-doors, and gape at the huge black monstrosities. I feel Jayden heave a huge sigh behind me. "Dauntless is amazing, isn't it?" He says, letting out a long low whistle. I just nod.

We enter, and it's probably even more amazing. It's just like the Pit, with people teeming everywhere, and the walls are made with dark stone. However, it's smaller, and there are tables to seat about eight crammed in every corner. At the far end of the room, there's a long counter, probably to collect food. Four turns off in that direction, and we veer after him. He looks back at us. "Hey!" he yells over the people and the music. "Dauntless cake is worth dying for, okay?" We all nod and grin at him.

We collect our food and walk over to Four, who is standing patiently nearby waiting for us. "Since the rest of the initiates are apparently no-show, I think we should go see some of my friends at their table."

We follow him through the crowd, losing him quite a few times, since all Dauntless take it in mind to wear EXACTLY the same clothes. They all look the same from the back. It's a pretty weird sort of unity, if you ask me.

When we get to his table, I see someone pretty familiar.

"Zeke!" I blurt.

Four looks at me and then at Zeke. "You two know each other?" He lifts an eyebrow at me.

"Uh..." Zeke gives me a shut-the-hell-up-what-is-wrong-with-you look. "Zeke gave us a lecture... On Dauntless... In school! Yeah." It's a weak lie. I hope Four believes it.

Katniss frowns at me. "N-"

"Nice meeting you again!" I cut in, leaning over to shake Zeke's hand. I give Katniss The Look, and she shuts up.

"Oh," Four says. "I didn't know you lectured at the school." Zeke shrugs.

"I volunteered once when I was running low on points."

I didn't know you were such a good liar, I think.

I sit down and look at the others at the table, smiling at all of them. But then I mentally slap myself, because in Dauntless you don't smile at everyone, you shake their hands. So I lean over the table to do that instead.

Four introduces us to everyone, and I find out that they're all war veterans; Cara and Caleb, Erudite ambassadors to Dauntless. They seem to be dating, while Four seems really distant and weird around Caleb. I wonder if they're rivals or something. And then there are Shauna, Zeke, Matthew and Christina from Dauntless. Shauna is confined to a wheelchair, and Zeke sits so uncomfortably close to her that I'm pretty sure they're a thing. Matthew is Head of the Dauntless Hospital, and Christina trains the Dauntless born initiates. Christina keeps throwing glances at Four; not as if she's attracted to him, but in a concerned way, the way an older sibling might. They're all about twenty-two.

These people are odd. But as the three of us sit with them and talk to them, I find out that they're, funny, and interesting, and basically good friends. They seem to have gone through a lot of pain together, though; the way they throw each other warning glances every time we reach a touchier subject, and the way they have to comfort each other so often.

Jayden apparently knows Cara. They talk through lunch, discussing some issue that I don't get heads or tails of.

Katniss and I just sit quietly and eat throughout the conversation, only talking when we're talked to. I just want to find out how these people work before participating in their discussion. Katniss is just very antisocial anyway, I've found.

The Dauntless cake really is good; I find myself eating my slice and Jayden's too, when I find that he is lactose intolerant.

"Hey, you three." Zeke looks at us. "I have a Candor and Dauntless thing going on this evening. You want to come? I mean, we don't regularly call initiates, but you're cool. What do you think?"

I nod without hesitation, even though I don't really know what Candor and Dauntless would be. "Yeah, why not?" I look at Katniss and Jayden in turn; they nod. "Yeah, we're in, Zeke."

He nods and flashes a winning grin. "Four'll bring you. See you then, initiates." He gets up off the table, and, wheeling Shauna in front of him, he walks away.

Four looks at us. "Let's get back to your dorm. I have to lecture those kids. If they think they can just disobey me when I tell them too do something, well, they're wrong." I notice that he has two modes: Instructor Four mode, and friend mode. I like friend mode more, but of course I'll be seeing a lot more of Instructor mode.

We nod and walk off towards the dorms, Four walking behind this time. I lean over to Jayden. "This 'lecture' thing will be fun." He grins.


End file.
